The third and final One-Day International (ODI) between India and England went to the wire in Pune on Sunday. India won by seven runs to clinch the series 2-1. The game had many heroes and Hardik Pandya was one of them. However, it was a mixed bag for the Baroda all-rounder.
The hard-hitting batsman smashed a 44-ball 64 and added 99 for the fifth wicket in the company of Rishabh Pant to steady the Indian innings. The stand was vital as the Men on Blue made 329.
Pandya then dropped Ben Stokes off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bowling when the all-rounder was on 15. Pandya, who sets high standards for himself on the field, was quick to apologise with folded hands after he missed the sitter.
The drop did not prove costly as Stokes was caught by Shikhar Dhawan off a full toss from T Natarajan. The relief on Pandya's face was evident when Stokes fell for 35.
Pandya, who had not bowled in the first two ODIs was called on to bowl by Virat Kohli. The medium-pacer did not let his captain down on a day in which his brother and left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya and seamer Prasidh Krishna struggled to contain the batsmen.
Pandya made amends when he pulled off a spectacular catch to cut short Moeen Ali's stay off Bhuvneshwar's bowling. He dived full length to take the catch inches off the ground while fielding at mid-off.
However, soon Pandya dropped a skier off Krishna's bowling to hand Sam Curran a life when he was on 22. To make matters worse he parried the ball away to the boundary.
The drop seemed to hurt India badly as the dapper left-hander went on the rampage. However, Pandya kept one end tight. His nine overs cost only 48 runs and the medium-pacer bowled a terrific penultimate over giving away only five runs. This over also witnessed two missed catches as both Mark Wood and Curran benefitted off successive balls with Shardul Thakur and Natarjan being the offenders.
England needed 14 off the final over bowled by Natarajan. Curran drilled the first ball down to long on where it was brilliantly stopped by Pandya who fired in a flat throw to catch Wood short of his crease. It proved to be a huge moment in the game as Curran could not take his side home despite a valiant unbeaten 95.
Pandya had redeemed himself and with Natarajan keeping his cool, India earned a hard-fought series win over the world champions.
